When using visualization systems to monitor leaks in a gas processing plant, there is a need to quickly and automatically locate the origin of the leak in the gas processing plant in order to take appropriate counter-actions. If the leak is a security risk it is favorable to shut down the production automatically without human intervention. If the location of the point source of the leak is not known then the entire plant has to be shut down to control the leak. Clearly, it is of economical interest to only shut down the affected subsystems.
If a shutdown decision should be taken by an operator it is useful to translate the optical information in the gas image to schematic information in an electronic plant overview plan.
It is of great importance for both safety and environmental reasons to detect and quantify a gas leak and determine its mass flux. Most techniques to determine the mass flux utilizes prior knowledge of where the point source is located. Sometimes, like in the lidar (Light Detection And Ranging) case, it is enough to know that the point is to the left or right of the scene of interest but sometimes the exact location must be known. The position of the leak in the gas image is required for automatic determination of the mass flux.
The method used today to locate the origin of a leak visualized with gas visualization techniques is to rely on the judgement of the operator. With the gas information mixed with a visual image the human brain has little problem in determining the origin of the leak.
A method used today to find a leak without gas visualization techniques is to use point detectors. To locate the origin of the leakage, it is required to walk around the plant with gas point detectors or to look at secondary effects from the leak such as the cooling of the pipe when the gas pressure drops.
Lidar technology can be used to determine the existence of leaks and the total mass flux of these. Locating the origins of these leaks can typically take weeks or months after the measurement. Lidar measurements require large and heavy instruments and are normally only performed once every second year if at all employed.